Blog — Kim Rankin

Jan 3

Jan 3 Three Ways to Help Our Family as Airway Surgery Approaches

Nathaniel's airway surgery is about a month away. Now that Christmas and New Year's is over, it seems close. We wanted to share our plans and the needs our family has as the date approaches.

Both Rich and I will go to Cincinnati for the surgery. We have been told to expect a five hour surgery and for Nathaniel to spend a week in the Critical Airway ICU afterwards. Nathaniel will have a new stoma and possibly medical new care routines that we will learn before his discharge. We have been asked to stay in the Cincinnati area for a second week to be close to the surgeon and hospital in the event of complications. There are three different ways you can help our family now.

Dec 29

Dec 29 The Year Baby Jesus Had a Tracheostomy

Kim Rankin

Disabilities, Airway and Respiratory, Our Family

A friend sent me this photo on Christmas Eve. "Baby Jesus has a trach this year," her text said.

Doll baby Jesus' mother is six-year old Maggie. Maggie's mother is a medic who spends her days training first responders in tracheostomy emergencies. Maggie's grandmother is a Sunday School director. Maggie's grandfather had a trach. Blend it all together and it is logical that when a baby was needed for the Family Service nativity at church that Maggie's trached baby doll was cast for the leading role.

The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the feeding trough had a tracheostomy.

Dec 24

Dec 24 Merry Christmas 2015

Kim Rankin

Our Family

I learned at Christmas in 1993 that I love to write. I had just had a baby. There were three children under four in the house; two older step-sons visited on weekends. In the rare moments that the house was settled and I could have been resting, I sat at my father-in-law's Brother typewriter and wrote draft after draft of our Christmas letter. Like today, writing provided quiet time to process life. For a decade or more, before the world of blogging and social media, taking time to write our annual Christmas letter was a gift to myself and the route I used to connect with distant aunts and uncles, old friends from college, and the parents of childhood friends.

Dec 17

Dec 17 The Plan for Airway Surgery

Kim Rankin

Airway and Respiratory, Disabilities

About a month ago, I offered my layman's understanding on the functions of the larynx - it provides a passageway for breathing, it protects the lungs, it contains the vocal cords aiding in sound production, and it helps with eating. I mentioned in that post that having all four functions is not possible for Nathaniel. Tests during our last trip to Cincinnati Children's showed that Nathaniel still aspirates - his airway is unprotected - and that condition is unlikely to change with more time. The news we received in November was more brutal than hearing all four functions of the larynx could not be saved. Because Nathaniel's airway is not protected, it is not in his best interest to restore any larynx function.

Dec 15

Dec 15 Warm Weather, Woolies, and Words

Kim Rankin

AAC, Our Family

Yesterday I visited my own blog to find a link for someone and realized it has been two weeks since I posted last. It takes our family at least a week to recuperate after one of Nathaniel's hospitalizations. Thanksgiving, recuperating, and now preparing for Christmas have all tumbled into each other and filled the empty crevices in each day.

Rich took off a couple hours early one Friday evening so we could go cut down our Christmas tree. With two of our older boys working retail, finding times for this traditional family outing was tricky. We can't remember the year we started going to this tree lot, but we think it has been around twenty-years. It is one of my favorite Christmas moments.

Dec 1

Dec 1 AAC and Healthcare Professionals

Kim Rankin

AAC, Disabilities

PrAACtical AAC, a popular blog for speech therapists working in augmented communication, shared a post this morning that hit me hard. "No matter what the age or type of disability," it said, "almost all AAC learners face the challenge of communicating effectively during encounters with healthcare professionals. People with AAC needs are among those who are considered to be communication vulnerable and do best when there are planned supports in place."

Communication vulnerable.

Hi.